


audience participation

by bazwrites



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Kokichi is a rat, Love Confessions, M/M, Pining, but everyone lives at the school! and it's just them! for some reason!, dont think on it too hard, kaede is Unhelpful, kaito is. Kaito., kiibo is even More unhelpful, mini-class trial but it's stupid, shuichi hates all of his friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 19:23:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18350117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bazwrites/pseuds/bazwrites
Summary: Shuichi needs help telling Gonta he has feelings for him. He asks Kaede for help.Naturally, everyone else gets involved.(or, the great mystery of who on earth Shuichi Saihara has a crush on!)





	audience participation

**Author's Note:**

> +hello hello!
> 
> +more shuichi/gonta because i can't help myself, i love 'em so much!
> 
> +also, i've officially finished the main game. i refuse to talk about it. but that means i can look up character without fear of spoilers! yay!
> 
> +speaking of: no spoilers in sight here! this is a non-killing game, non-despair, non-hpa au? i don't know how to classify this. probably closest to salmon mode, but don't think about it too much
> 
> +unlike my previous saigonta fic, we get to see everyone! all 16 students speak (at least once). some more than others. you can probably imagine who! 
> 
> +anyways! without further ado: enjoy another silly saigonta fic!

“Asking you for help was a mistake.”

“That wasn’t what you said earlier!”

Shuichi sighs, cupping his hands over his eyes in a vain attempt to remain unseen as he trudges behind Kaede towards Kiibo’s lab. “I’m saying it now. Hindsight is twenty-twenty.”

“Well, it’s too late now.” Kaede looks  _ far  _ too pleased with herself as she grins back at Shuichi, silently motioning for him to drop his hands. “You asked for my help because you’re terrible with romantic endeavors, and because I got Maki to date me even though she hates everyone and is sort of scary.” 

“Still not sure how you managed that,” Shuichi mutters, and he’s expecting the light smack he gets on the head. 

_ “Anyways,”  _ she continues, unfazed, tugging on Shuichi’s sleeve to get them moving again, “I’m here to help. Goodness knows you’ve been dancing around for too long to make me think you’d ever confess on your own.”

He doesn’t give her a response, no matter how technically correct she may be. 

“I asked you  _ specifically  _ to help me do this as painlessly as possible.” She gives him an odd look, gesturing around herself vaguely. “Getting someone else involved is  _ not  _ painless.”

“We’re talking about  _ Kiibo  _ here,” Kaede tells him emphatically, as if that’s meant to explain her reasoning. She rolls her eyes when Shuichi doesn’t respond. “Kiibo is probably the least stressful person we could bring into this. Kokichi? Kaito? Involving them would be painful.”

Shuichi pales at the mere thought.

“Kiibo? Not at all. Just a robot who I  _ know  _ will be more than ecstatic to help.” They’ve made it to the doorway of Kiibo’s lab now, and without hesitating Kaede raps on the door, hands clasped behind her back as she waits for an answer.

“The problem isn’t  _ who,”  _ Shuichi tells her in a hushed whisper, and no, he is not pouting. “It’s the fact that I’m already nervous about this, and--”

“Ah, Kaede! Shuichi!” Kiibo smiles as he greets them, scanning over their faces briefly before making eye contact. “What can I do for you?”

Shuichi considers cutting in with  _ ‘nothing, sorry, see you later’  _ but like with many (most) things, Kaede is quicker to the punch, and links arms with Shuichi as she throws herself into explaining their predicament. 

“Shuichi is in a bit of a bind here, a romantic one, if you will, and he came to me for help! And I, in turn, came to you for help!” She flashes Kiibo a smile, and Shuichi only very narrowly resists the urge to melt into the floor.

Kiibo’s smile dampens a touch, though it seems to be more borne of confusion than anything else. “Romantic. . .bind? I’m not sure I would be able to help, I’m afraid.”

“You don’t need to do anything major,” Kaede tells him, removing her arm from Shuichi’s and gesturing towards Kiibo’s lab. “Can we come in to discuss the plan?”

“You have a plan?” Shuichi asks wearily, nodding in thanks to Kiibo as he steps aside to let them in. She flashes him a smile that is far too devious for his tastes.

“Yes. And we need Kiibo’s help to make sure this goes off without a hitch.” She turns to look at Kiibo, who still looked lost -- which, honestly, Shuichi could relate to in this instance. 

“So, Kiibo. Shuichi came to me a little while ago, bearing his soul about the weight of his crush--”

“--That is  _ not  _ how I remember it--”

“--And I, someone not  _ totally  _ romantically constipated, decided to come up with a plan to help him confess to Gonta--”

_ “--Kaede!”  _ Shuichi hisses, mortified. He’s given a reassuring pat on the shoulder, face burning.

“He would have found out anyways.” Kaede turns to Kiibo, who was looking a bit red in the face himself. “Kiibo. My plan is to have a nice cute love song play for Gonta, and then Shuichi will confess, and it will be very cute, and then he’ll finally stop crying to me and Maki about how much he wants to kiss Gonta.”

“Oh my God,” Shuichi groans, shoving his head into his hands. This time it’s Kiibo giving him a comforting -- if somewhat awkward -- pat on the shoulder. 

“I. . .do have certain audio playback functions, if that’s what you’re getting at.” Kiibo pauses for a moment, looking sort of sheepish. “My song selection is limited, though.”

“We’ll make it work. If you’re saying yes.”

Kiibo glances at Shuichi, laughing a little. “I think he needs as much help as he can get.” 

“When are we going to ask  _ my  _ opinion on this plan?” Shuichi asks, more to the open air than to either of his companions, who were hurriedly whispering amongst themselves. He’s given no response, to no one’s surprise.

Begrudgingly, Shuichi has to admit he’s lost, though, because there isn’t a force in this world that can slow the combined excitement of Kaede and Kiibo together. He contents himself with snooping around the lab, blocking out the chatter as best he can because, if he’s honest, listening in on whatever elaborate  _ mess  _ that’s being planned for him will only serve to make him more anxious.

And  _ boy  _ is he anxious enough already. 

When Shuichi had gone to Kaede with the name of his until-then-elusive crush and a (somewhat shaky) resolve to confess, he’d had something a little less  _ intense  _ in mind. Maybe a bit of coaching on what to say. Tips to keep his voice from trembling too much. How to make his intentions clear while also not pressuring Gonta into a decision. 

_ Normal  _ things.

He’d asked Kaede for various reasons, but one of the driving factors instead of, say, Rantaro (would likely be too laid back and casual in his advice), or Kaito (would turn it into a team-building exercise), or Himiko (would probably laugh in his face and go into a spiel about how perfect her and Tenko were), or  _ Kokichi  _ (he hates to even imagine), was the fact that her confession to Maki had be simple. Quiet. Quiet and heartfelt and it had  _ worked.  _

Perhaps she’s living out her fantasies of a gaudy, intense confession through him.

Shuichi sweats at the thought.

_ “Kiibo!”  _ Kaede’s voice cuts through the lab, and he hears a much quieter ‘ow!’ from the robot. “Do you seriously  _ only  _ have Vocaloid songs?”

Oh no.

“I told you my music library was limited!” 

“This was a mistake,” Shuichi moans, horrified, because not only did he already  _ dislike  _ this plan, but the idea of playing some of Kiibo’s  _ Vocaloid  _ to convince Gonta he had a crush on him was probably the worst thought he’s had in ages. 

“Well, fine.” She puffs her cheeks out in apparent annoyance, and then turns her gaze onto Shuichi. “You can just play some instrumental, and Shuichi can sing.”

Scratch that,  _ that  _ idea is the worst thought to ever enter his mind.

“Wait!” Kiibo, sensing Shuichi’s apparent horror, interrupts, his usual mechanical whirring getting slightly louder. “I’ve found another music folder! It’s smaller, but perhaps. . .”

“As long as it’s not Vocaloid,” Shuichi mutters miserably, resigning himself to a fate of embarrassing himself beyond repair with this stupid stunt. 

Shuichi lowers himself into a sit on the floor of the lab, again tuning out his friends’ bickering. He’s still not quite sure whether something of this magnitude  _ embarrassing  _ could actually, like, feasibly happen, so he forces himself to hold onto the hope that the whole thing will be dropped and he can go back to living in peace while pining from the sidelines.

He’s a mess, is what he is. 

He’s not sure how long has passed before Kaede comes over and taps him on the shoulder, smile on her face and figurative stars in her eyes. She practically pulls him from the floor herself, excitedly outlining the apparent plan, set to go into motion this evening.

Shuichi is, suffice to say, not optimistic.

 

*

 

Shuichi feels feverish as he waits for Kiibo to arrive.

It’s nighttime, now, and he’s standing in the middle of the large open circle at the bottom of the stairs in the dorm complex, clutching a pair of dead or dying flowers, doing his best not to be suspicious should anyone decide to peek out of their rooms. He’s definitely sweating, and though he’d done his best to appear  _ somewhat  _ presentable beforehand, he’s overly paranoid that his hair may be sticking up, his clothes may be ruffled, his face may be red.

Well, it’s a definite yes on the last one. But.

Kaede is hiding just behind the door to her room, occasionally sticking out her hand to offer a thumbs up. He can hardly stand still he’s so nervous, but nevertheless Shuichi stays in place, fearing Kaede’s wrath should he abandon this endeavor now.

The plan is -- the plan is terrible. Stupid. A disaster in the making. 

Kiibo will play a song -- what song, Shuichi is still unaware -- in front of Gonta’s door, and when he leaves the room Shuichi will be there, offering flowers and a candid confession. All of the moving parts are fairly simple, but still Shuichi has to consciously calm himself down.

He nearly jumps as the door to the dorm complex is opened, and when he turns he sees a smiling Kiibo, he’s offered another thumbs up.

“Before we begin, I just want to offer you good luck!” Kiibo is  _ far  _ more chipper than Shuichi, and he tries to appreciate the positivity, he really does, but he can barely manage a smile. “I have full confidence in Kaede’s plan, and moreover I believe you and Gonta will make a very cute couple!”

“T-Thanks,” Shuichi responds, ducking his head.

“I just want to remind you that I cannot stop the song, it will have to play until it is finished. It is not very long, so that shouldn’t be an issue, but I wanted to inform you beforehand.”

Shuichi swallows nervously. Great.

“Great,” Shuichi says, wiping his hands on his pants nervously. He winces when the flowers wilt just the slightest bit more. 

“Are you ready?” 

_ No,  _ Shuichi thinks.

“Yes!” Kaede yells from her door.

The music starts, loud enough that Shuichi can feel it in tandem with his heartbeat.

_ Oh God. _

Shuichi could curl up in a ball and  _ die  _ for how embarrassed he gets as the lyrics wash over him, blaring loudly throughout the complex. It’s at this moment he realizes that  _ oh my God  _ everyone  _ can hear the music. _

A lyric containing the word  _ love  _ fills the air, and the first person emerges from their room, the first outside witness to what has to be the most mortifying moment of Shuichi’s entire life.

“What’s with all the loud music!” Himiko demands at the top of her voice, not looking quite as intimidating as she attempts to sound in a pair of bunny-patterned pajamas. Shuichi can barely hear her over how loud Kiibo’s speakers are blaring. Tenko is not far behind her girlfriend, looking only mildly annoyed until she sees who is the cause of the noise. Her expression shifts to murderous as she makes eye contact with Shuichi.

She, also, is wearing bunny pajamas.

The song is hardly halfway done when everyone -- everyone except one person -- has emerged from their rooms in various stages of annoyance, confusion, and anger. 

Shuichi hopes the ground swallows him whole.

“What’s goin’ on?” Kaito rubs at his eyes tiredly, blearly moving over the small crowd forming before settling onto Shuichi. 

Shuichi looks at Kiibo pleadingly, who was looking a bit red himself. He’s offered a sympathetic shrug from his friend, mouthing something vaguely akin to  _ ‘I cannot shut it off.’  _

He puts his head in his hands.

“Shuichi?” Kaito leans lazily against the railing outside of his room, peering down at Shuichi with a mixture of annoyance and intrigue. “What’re you doin’?”

He’s not given a chance to answer.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Kokichi’s expression is absolutely  _ delighted  _ as he himself rests his weight against the railing, looking out towards the rest of his classmates with a smarmy grin on his face. “The music, the flowers, how embarrassed he is -- Shuichi is trying to confess to someone!”

The room explodes into chatter.

_ Kokichi. . . _

“I don’t care what you’re trying to do,” Maki cuts in, ignoring Kokichi and instead focusing on Shuichi. “It’s too loud. Turn down the music.”

_ “Maki!”  _ Kaede stage-whispers, emerging from her room and looking at her girlfriend pleadingly. “We’re making a statement here!”

“We?” Shuichi asks over the music, and Kaede just winks at him. Maki is still unimpressed.

“Kiibo.” She raises her voice to a volume that Kiibo can -- somehow, Shuichi can’t imagine how over how loud the music pouring from his body is -- hear, and he jumps to attention. “Turn the music off.”

“I can’t!” 

It’s a futile gesture. Not even Shuichi can hear him. Maki’s eyes narrow.

“He’s -- he can’t stop the music until the song is over.” 

She turns her glare onto Shuichi as he translates. He’s definitely shaking down.

“We’re missing the point here!” Kokichi interrupts, calling the attention of the room back to him. “We gotta figure out  _ who  _ Shuichi is trying to confess his undying love to!”

“My  _ what--” _

“I’m going to bed. Turn the music off or else.” Maki disappears -- into Kaede’s room, curiously -- soon after, and no one seems to discontented with her absence.

“Shuichi,” Kirumi interjects, a sympathetic smile on her face. “Good luck. I’ll be heading to bed as well.” 

His wave to her as she retreats is awkward. He hopes he’s just imagining Kokichi’s giggling.

_ “Soooooo,”  _ Kokichi drawls, eyes alight with interest, “who’re you trying to confess to, Shuichi?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Kaito stands up straight, offering Shuichi a wink and a thumbs up. “My sidekick has fallen for me, and is trying to confess to me! I’m proud of your bravery, man!”

Kokichi laughs. The song is almost over.  _ Thank God.  _

“You?” Kokichi’s tone is unkind. “No, idiot. Shuichi has better taste than that. Right?”

“Hey! I’m not an idiot! And I’m right. Right, Shuichi?”

“Ah, no, Kaito.” Shuichi smiles sheepishly. “Sorry.” 

“Haha!” 

Tsumugi, who had thus far been silently observing, pitches in. “So if it’s not Kaito, who is it, Shuichi? Who do you have a crush on?”

“It’s  _ me,  _ ain’t it, Shuichi?” Miu points to herself with both thumbs, a wide, cocky grin stretching her face. She’s in pink pajamas that make Shuichi blush to even think about. 

“It’s alright, I can’t blame a virgin like you for crushin’ on someone as fuckin’ hot as me!” 

Kokichi’s laughter is practically delirious.  _ “Ohhh,  _ that’s  _ hilarious!  _ First Kaito, now  _ Miu  _ thinks--” His apparent hilarity with the situation is not one of his better lies, but nonetheless it momentarily cows Miu, and she shrinks into the background.

The song is over. Kiibo wastes very little time scurrying away, leaving Shuichi alone in the middle of the room. 

He looks towards Gonta’s room briefly. Nothing.

“It better not be me or Himiko! We’re taken! It’s not us, is it?” 

_ “Is _ it me, Shuichi?” Himiko seems significantly more open to the idea than Tenko. When he shakes his head in response, her smile widens. 

“Good. Now I can watch and see without any worrying. I  _ definitely  _ want to see this.”

At least  _ someone  _ is having fun.

“C’mon, guys!” Kokichi claps his hands together to call attention back to himself. “Let’s start putting out some theories about who Shuichi wants to confess to! I think it’s Maki.”

“Maki would kill him if he even tried!” Angie says brightly, bouncing lightly on the soles of her feet. 

“Then maybe it’s a good thing she went back to bed, huh, Shuichi?” Kokichi’s eyes fixate more firmly on him, and the increased attention makes him decidedly uncomfortable.

“No way,” Kaito argues, shaking his head. “Maki’s with Kaede. Even if he  _ did  _ have feelings for Maki, Shuichi’s not dumb enough to do somethin’ big like this!”

“Like you, when you confessed to Maki? When she was with Kaede? In such a big, gaudy, stupid way?” Kokichi laughs as Kaito starts to splutter. 

“It’s  _ not  _ Maki,” Shuichi tells his classmates emphatically. No one acknowledges it. He doubts they’re listening.

“Are we sure it’s not Kaito? Stupid attracts stupid, after all,” Tenko puts forth, earning a laugh from Himiko and a few others. Shuichi frowns. 

“Interesting point.” Kokichi flicks his gaze to Kaito again. “However, I think we’ve established that Shuichi has better taste than that, no?”

_ “Shut up!” _

“Oh my God,” Shuichi says mournfully, a headache already forming from the sound of Kokichi and Kaito bickering. 

“Maybe we should figure out if they’re a boy or a girl?” Tsumugi offers, her eyes fixed on Shuichi. 

Kokichi seems to consider for a moment. “Nah,” he eventually decides, “there isn’t enough to go off of. We’d be here all night. It’ll be easier to just do this by process of elimination.”

“You could also  _ not  _ do this at all, Kokichi.”

“Aww, Shuichi’s embarrassed! But we can’t give up now! We have to help him confess!” 

There’s a short lull as people consider. Shuichi begins inching towards his door, but several shouts at once stop him in his tracks. 

“Not so fast, lover boy!”

_ “Lover boy--” _

“You can’t duck out now! You gotta be a man and see it through to the end!”

“Shuichi, no!” Kaede’s voice is sharp. 

Kokichi sets his sights on her. “Oh, Kaede! How lovely to know you’re a part of this.” He claps his hands, expression smug. “You know who it is,  _ riiiiiiight?”  _

“If Kaede  _ is  _ in on it, there’s no way she’ll give it away,” Ryoma mumbles. 

“Yeah!” She puts both hands on her hips, expression defiant. “There’s no way I’d do that!” 

“And we can assume Kiibo knows who it is, too?” Kokichi asks, touching a finger to his chin. A quiet squeak of assent comes from the direction of Kiibo’s room, to which Kokichi claps his hands delightedly. 

“I think that officially rules out Kaede and Kii-boy as suspects,” he tells the group, eyes trailing over the lot of them. He focuses on Shuichi. “Along with those two, it’s also obviously not Shuichi, Kaito, Himiko, or Kaito. That brings our list of suspects down to ten.” 

“I’m tellin’ ya, it’s me he’s got the hots for! Just  _ look  _ at me, how could a virgin like him  _ not  _ want to f--”

“Nine, because no one has a crush on Miu.” There’s a whimper as Kokichi cuts her off. “Now that we’ve got our ‘definite no’s established, does anybody have any other theories?”

“Well, what’s Shuichi’s type?” Rantaro asks, offering only a sly smile when Shuichi shoots him an annoyed look. 

“Ooh, good question!” Angie bounds over to the stairs and settles onto them, eyes alight with curiosity. “Who is blessed enough to have caught Shuichi’s divine eye?”

“D-Divine. . .huh?” 

“Angie, that sounds a lot like interest!” Kokichi appraises her closely. “Do you have a  _ cruuush  _ on Shuichi? Do you want him to confess to you?” 

“No way!” Tenko interjects, looking slightly forlorn. “Angie definitely doesn’t have feelings for him! She has much higher standards than a man like him!” 

A few currents of giggles ring throughout the room, including from Angie. Shuichi struggles to make eye contact with anyone. 

“. . . _ Do  _ you have a crush on him, Angie?” Tsumugi asks tentatively. 

Angie laughs, shrugging her shoulders. “Shuichi is quite handsome, but. . .no!” There’s a brief pause. Shuichi takes the moment to wipe his hands on his pants. 

“Does anyone think Shuichi looks disappointed after she said that?” Himiko points an accusatory finger at him. “I think he does! Shuichi is trying to confess to Angie!” 

“I’m not disappointed, I’m  _ uncomfortable,”  _ Shuichi says wryly. 

“Because Angie rejected you?” Kokichi presses, unsmiling. Shuichi rolls his eyes. 

“I don’t have feelings for Angie.” 

“Everyone! All in favor of declaring that Shuichi is trying to confess to Angie!” Kokichi’s hand is the first to shoot into the air as he finishes his sentence. Tsumugi, Himiko, Tenko, Angie, and Korekiyo all follow his lead. “Hmm, not quite a majority. . .”

“Kokichi, please,” Shuichi pleads, nervously bouncing his weight between both feet. “Just give it a rest. Let’s just forget this ever happened.”

“No way! We can’t abandon you in your quest for love when we’re so close!” Kokichi pouts, eyes watering. “All you have to do is confess your love to Kiyo!” 

_ “Korekiyo?”  _

“Me?” Korekiyo touches a hand to his face, eyes wide in surprise. “Kokichi, I’m afraid you’re mistaken, didn’t we just agree that Angie was the object of Shuichi’s affection?”

“Yeah!” Himiko agrees, crossing her arms. “It’s Angie!” 

“It’s  _ not  _ Angie,” Shuichi argues tiredly.

“Yeah it is!” 

“Is it?” Kaito wonders, rubbing his chin.

“It’s  _ not,”  _ Shuichi repeats, feeling his patience begin to ebb. 

“Yeah, it’s not--”

“Then  _ prove  _ it,” Kokichi taunts venomously, cutting Kaede off. His eyes, narrowed and unkind, bore into Shuichi with an intensity he cringes away from. Kokichi gestures grandly to the rest of the room, smile pulling his lips taut, and then points a single finger towards Shuichi. 

“Prove to us that you  _ don’t  _ like Angie!” 

“Can he do it?” Tsumugi stage-whispers, one among many pairs of eyes laser-focused on Shuichi’s reddening face. 

The mortification, the fatigue, the anger, the embarrassment bubble under the surface of Shuichi’s skin and on the tip of his tongue, which he only barely bites back from saying something mean to his classmates. He feels his fists tighten of his own accord, crushing the limp flowers beyond any chance of recovery, and he has to force back the sudden urge to burst into tears of frustration. 

“It’s not Angie because I don’t like  _ girls,”  _ he manages, albeit with difficulty. The low hum of activity lighting up the room dies into brief silence, no one seeming to know where to go from there.

After a moment, “I think that proves it’s not Angie.” Kaito watches him, an unmistakably sympathetic look on his face. “Shuichi, you alright?”

“Fine,” he replies, more terse than he means to, dropping the destroyed flowers and kicking them away. He takes a shaky breath, and then focuses his attention on Kokichi, waiting. 

“Well, that was awkward.” Kokichi doesn’t make eye contact, instead focusing his attention on the rest of their classmates. “Anyways, that also rules out Tenko, Tsumugi, and Angie, so that brings our suspect total to five. Unless he’s lying.”

“He’s not,” Kaede interjects, a sour look on her face. “And Kokichi, quit being so obnoxious. If you’re going to do this, than fine, but it’s no fun if you make people upset.” 

He seems to consider that for a moment, a finger resting delicately on his chin. After a moment he shrugs. “Fine, fine. This is a happy occasion, so no more bullying Shuichi, you meanies!” 

“You’re the one bullying him!” Kaito argues, annoyance crossing his face. 

_ “Whaaat?  _ I would never bully my Shuichi! I love him!” Kokichi’s pout is back, along with a fresh round of tears. “That’s why I want him to confess to me!” 

“What a stupid lie,” Himiko admonishes, puffing her cheeks out in annoyance. Kokichi winks at her, earning a low threat from Tenko.

“Cut the waterworks and let’s just get this over with,” Shuichi says brusquely, rolling his eyes. As expected, it doesn’t take him very much time to recover. 

“Well, okay. Man, it really stinks not having the Ultimate Detective helping us with this, y’know? But I’ll figure it out!” He shoots Shuichi a bright grin and a wink. “Anyways, I think Shuichi has a crush on Rantaro.” 

“Hm?” Rantaro looks at Kokichi, an odd look on his face. “Where did that come from?”

“Rantaro is the most handsome! There’s no way Shuichi  _ doesn’t  _ love him.” 

Angie raises her hand, waving it around excitedly until all eyes focus on her. “Rantaro is also very handsome! He is my vote.” 

Shuichi happens to make eye contact with Rantaro as the room dissolves into quiet pockets of arguing, and he imagines the smile he shares with his classmate is just as long-suffering as he imagines. He’s offered a gaudy wink, and Shuichi swallows down a snort despite himself.

“Oooh, I can  _ see  _ the sparks flying! Rantaro and Shuichi really are in love!” 

Tenko scowls down at Shuichi appraisingly. “Kokichi may be a terrible disgusting menace, but I might have to agree. These two are sharing a  _ lot  _ of looks.” 

“Rantaro could do  _ sooo  _ much better,” Himiko mutters sleepily. “Boo.”

“Hey! Shuichi is  _ well  _ within Rantaro’s league! Don’t be mean!” Kaede puffs out her cheeks in annoyance, seemingly more upset about Himiko’s jab than Shuichi was. 

Not hard, considering it  _ wasn’t  _ Rantaro he was here for. 

“Not helping,” Shuichi says with an eye roll. Kokichi’s eyes light up, immediately launching into an equal parts grandeur and fabricated spiel about how Shuichi and Rantaro are  _ made  _ for each other, or something equally ridiculous. 

As the arguing goes on around him, Shuichi lets his eyes wander, unconcerned with listening to whatever ridiculous tangent his friends had been led down. He tries his best not to keep his eyes too long in one spot, but when he glances at Gonta’s door and still sees no one standing in front of it, he finds himself suppressing a frown.

On one hand, Shuichi couldn’t imagine what an absolute mess this would be had Gonta  _ actually  _ come out. Kaede’s plan was destined to fail from the start; as was being proven at this very moment, there had been no guarantees that the person he  _ was  _ here for would even get the message in the first place. Thinking on it, Shuichi certainly  _ could  _ imagine Gonta as the type to go to bed early and stay there. 

The mental image of Gonta, sound asleep in bed, oblivious to the chaos going on outside his dorm, totally at peace makes Shuichi’s mouth pull into a smile that he quickly smothers.

On the other hand, though: if Gonta  _ didn’t  _ leave his room, give him a way out, he’d be stuck on display like a carnival animal until his classmates either figured this mystery out, convinced themselves they had, or gave up.

But with Kokichi at the lead, Shuichi doubts it would be that easy. 

He stares at the crumpled, withered, dead flowers on the floor, and sighs. Hindsight really  _ is  _ 20/20, because now that he’s  _ here,  _ in this ridiculous situation, he knows that there were  _ much  _ better routes to take this confession than where he was now. 

For one, he could've just kept this little secret bottled up forever and never dealt with it like an actual person. 

Or he could’ve taken the route of just going up to Gonta in private and saying what he has to say, just the two of them. No fanfare. No spectacles. Maybe a flower, maybe a homemade treat, maybe a convoluted, messy speech that he struggled to get through without stumbling through his words. 

Something that -- if things didn’t go the way he hoped -- would leave him less open to public scrutiny than this. Because Shuichi knows that Gonta is probably the nicest among their little group, certainly the classmate of his with the smallest potential for malice or general cruelty. Gonta would never be intentionally unkind, even if he had to reject Shuichi. 

Shuichi sighs again, his shoulders drooping. It was too late for that now.

“Yo, Shuichi!” Kaito’s pointed sentence pulls him from his thoughts, and he finds the entire group silent, eyes focused on him. He swallows uncomfortably.

“What is it?” He resists the urge to hug his arms around himself.

“Well, you  _ totally  _ missed the part where Rantaro said he’d be down if you were down, but more important than that. . .” As Kokichi pauses for dramatic effect, Shuichi looks at Rantaro quizzically; he’s given a shrug and a somewhat self-deprecating laugh in response. 

“Why haven’t you just given up and  _ confessed  _ already? It’s getting  _ boooring  _ just sitting here fighting with everyone, because we don’t have any clues!” Kokichi stomps his foot petulantly. “We’re not gonna leave you alone ‘til you say it, y’know? So might as well just do it already.”

“Pooichi, if you don’t just spit it the fuck out already, I swear I’m gonna invent something that will broadcast all your shitty gay thoughts to everyone so we’ll  _ all  _ know the dirty thoughts you’re havin’! I will, don’t test me!” 

“If you’re bored, you can always just go to bed,” Shuichi tells the two of them casually, but there’s an underlying edge that has him wincing. He was just so  _ tired.  _ And no way was he confessing when Gonta wasn’t even  _ here. _

“No way! I’ll stay up forever and ever until you just confess!” There are a few resounding ‘yeah’s around the little circle, but Shuichi can see the resolve on several faces waning. Ryoma had long since entered his room, and Korekiyo was looking rather bleary-eyed as he leaned against the railing. Tenko had Himiko balanced carefully in her arms, apparently trying to urge her to go to bed, to no avail.

Even Kokichi was looking a bit sleepy; but whether that was the truth or a bit to go along with the rest of their classmates was beyond Shuichi. 

In the short lull of silence as people seemed to consider their next moves, the sound of a door cracking open pulled everyone’s eyes towards Kaede, who was looking back at Maki in confusion.

Maki, standing with wet hair in what had to be a pair of Kaede’s pajamas, looks murderous. 

If she’s had time to shower, and perhaps even sleep some, just how long as Shuichi been stuck on display?

“You’re still  _ up?”  _ she asks incredulously, eyes cutting across the dorm complex. She eventually focuses on Shuichi, and he shrugs.

“I’m being held hostage.” 

“We’re tryin’ to help Shuichi be honest with his feelings! You come to help, Maki Roll?” 

She rolls her eyes at Kaito. “Absolutely not. I already know, so this is of no interest to me.”

“Oooh! Maki Roll  _ does  _ know!” Kokichi, with renewed vigor, claps his hands to call the attention back to himself. “How unfortunate! How awkward that Shuichi has feelings for a taken woman!”

“Do you want to--” Maki stops herself, rolling her eyes. “No, you’re not worth it. Shuichi, if you don’t just get it over with, I’m going to tell everyone so I can go to bed.”

“Maaaaaki!” Kaede whines, oblivious to the nervous cough Shuichi had developed at Maki’s threat. “You can go to bed, I’ll be in soon! Please don’t do this for him.”

“Shuichi wouldn’t learn anything if someone did this for him!” Kaito agrees, a pout pointed in Maki’s direction. 

“Maki, just  _ tell  _ us,” Himiko says huffily, eyes not even open. Though Tenko seems to be having no trouble holding her girlfriend up, nevertheless she nods her head in agreement. 

Maki puffs her cheeks out, obviously annoyed. Shuichi can hear Kokichi chirping somewhere above his head for Maki to spill the beans already, but to his relief she just rolls her eyes and settles in next to Kaede, looking more bored than anything.

“You have five minutes to confess, for everyone to figure it out,  _ whatever.  _ I’m not waiting any longer after that.”

Okay, not the answer he was hoping for. He feels himself begin to sweat again. 

Everyone else seems to take the challenge, though, and soon the room breaks into different volumes of fighting over who the elusive suspect could be. Shuichi tries to focus on his breathing. 

He could go up to Gonta’s door. He could knock, ring the bell, say it and then run and hide forever. Or he could let Maki expose his secret to everyone. Neither is a very appealing option, both make his stomach twist anxiously, but which was the less painful option?

Shuichi feels himself begin to shake again. Between the glaring light of the ceiling fluorescents, the uncontained chaos of his classmates fighting amongst each other, the thunderous feeling of his own heartbeat in his ribcage -- it’s all too much, he’s too overwhelmed, and it’s only a matter of minutes until the contents of his heart will be spilled to his ravenous classmates, and it’s all so much.

A door opens.

Shuichi spins on his heel, more than a little spooked by the sudden entrance of someone into the dorms, and--

Gonta steps in, hair slightly messy and smiling.

Shuichi feels himself freeze everywhere except for his face, which grows redder than it’s been all night and cracks into a smile he can’t even begin to  _ think  _ about smothering when Gonta catches his eye and waves.

“Shuichi! Gonta not expect to see you up so late!”

“H-Hi, Gonta,” Shuichi doesn’t feel himself say the words, but he hears them rattle around his head, and he winces at how nervous and awestruck he sounds.

The room is totally silent, and all at once Shuichi knows he’s found out.

Well, almost. He can hear Kokichi and Kaito arguing over his head. He can’t bring himself to care.

“Oh, hello everyone!” Gonta takes notice of the rest of their classmates staring at him, but instead of shrinking under the intensity, simply offers a wide smile and another wave. “Everyone awake so late tonight! Everything okay?”

“Kaito, you idiot, how many times do I have to tell you Shuichi doesn’t have a crush on you?” Kokichi’s voice, scratchy and sounding (almost) genuinely irritated, fills the air in lieu of an actual answer to Gonta’s question. 

“Besides, you’re  _ straight!  _ Why do you  _ want  _ him to have a crush on you?”

“Shuichi’s my sidekick, he’s gotta be honest! Even if I don’t return his feelings, I can still support him!” 

“You’re an idiot.”

“Yeah, well so are you if you think Shuichi’s got feelings for  _ you!  _ You’re, like, the worst guy here!” 

“It’s more likely than him wanting to stick his d--” Kokichi cuts himself off, glancing around the room, face blank. His eyes move from Shuichi, to Gonta, and back to Shuichi again. 

“Ah. . .” Gonta looks a little sheepish, wringing his hands. “Gonta not really understand what going on. Did Gonta miss something?”

“No, Gonta, it’s fine.” The almost scarily-intense anger from before is gone; Kokichi’s tone is more airy, more distractedly annoyed than anything. “You  _ totally  _ wouldn’t want to know what’s going on anyways. We’re just trying to figure out who Shuichi has a  _ cruuuuuuu--” _

He freezes again, face purposefully blank. Shuichi can almost see the gears turning in his head. Suddenly Kokichi’s face splits into a grin, and with the figurative light bulb turning on over his head, the expression is haunting. 

“Oh! I see! Wow, Shuichi, you sure have. . .interesting taste.” His tone is odd, and Shuichi feels himself frown, an unkind response forming on his tongue.

“Whu? Did we figure it out?” Kaito looks around the room in confusion.

Kokichi snickers, his usual bravado back. “Obviously! I’ve known the whole time, I just wanted Shuichi to man up and admit it.” Tenko objects to his word choice; Kokichi doesn’t acknowledge it. “Kaito is so  _ dumb  _ for not figuring it out.”

“Shuichi? Who is it?” Kaito looks at him pleadingly; Shuichi avoid eye contact, his face reddening once again.  _ “Shuichi?”  _

Silence. Shuichi very heavily considers his next move. Then: 

_ “Wait.  _ Is it  _ Gonta?” _

The room explodes in sudden outrage, Kaede seizes towards Kaito, and Shuichi puts his head into his hands, feeling feverish. Over the overlapping yelling, he can hear Kokichi cackling.

A gentle hand on his arm nearly jumps Shuichi out of his skin, and when he lifts his head he finds Gonta much closer, looking at him with a puzzled expression. 

“Shuichi?” It’s an admittance of non-understanding, a request to explain what’s going on, but Shuichi feels his mouth go dry and he doubts he could so much as squeak in the state he was in. 

He stops. Takes a deep breath. Blinks a few times. When he opens his eyes for real he sees Gonta still there, a hand still tentatively on his arm. In a sudden rush of boldness he slips his arm free, only to set a hand in Gonta’s much larger one. 

A hush falls over the room. Shuichi waits for the sound of footsteps retreating, of doors closing,  _ anything.  _ None comes, and in exasperation he turns around, fixing his friends with a glare.

“Are you all  _ really  _ just going to stand there and watch me do this?”

Kokichi giggles. “Duh!” 

“Good luck, Shuichi!” Himiko offers him a bleary thumbs-up.

Rantaro winks. “We know you can do it.”

Kaito tries to laugh around the hands Kaede has around his throat. “Y-You can do it, buddy! You can cry on my shoulder if you n-need to!” 

All eyes are on Shuichi. He turns away from the rest of his class and towards Gonta, who still held his hand, looking unsure. 

“Shuichi? Everything alright?”

“Yeah. Ah, Gonta, I. . .” he pauses, trying to think of something profound and romantic and whimsical to say. 

Instead, ever tactful, he says:

“I like you.” Another pause. Shuichi thinks he might have heard Kokichi groan. “You’re, ah, you’re a very nice person, a very good person, I l-like spending time with you. You’re very special to me, Gonta, and I. . .I wanted to find a way to show -- ah, to tell you how special you are to me. Because you very much are.”

He swallows nervously. He’s talking too fast. 

“U-Um, I don’t really know how to say this in a way that you’ll understand easier -- I don’t really understand what I’m saying either, hah -- and I’m sorry I’m really nervous. I just.” He takes a few deep breaths. “I like you a lot, more than in a friend way, and I’ve spent the whole night being embarrassed for trying to tell you this and. Ah. I don’t want to pressure you, and I feel really bad that this is so public, but I -- I want to be boyfriends. If you want that too. So. Yeah.” 

Shuichi’s hands are sweating so badly he has half a mind to pull his hand away from Gonta’s just to save himself the embarrassment of sweating all over him. The cooing coming from his friends makes him want to melt straight into the floor, but for Gonta’s sake he doesn’t break eye contact.

Gonta’s bright red, looking a little lost for words. Shuichi can’t really tell if he’s breathing or not. 

“Gonta. . .” he pauses, seemingly trying to find the right words. Shuichi hopes, if this is a rejection, it’s merciful and quick.

“Gonta want to be Shuichi’s boyfriend, too.”

The room explodes into uproarious celebration, there’s screaming all around him and Shuichi -- well, Shuichi keels over in relief. 

His boyfriend -- his  _ boyfriend!  _ \-- is there to catch him, a touch of concern on his otherwise smiling face. Shuichi laughs, sort of deliriously, and throws himself into a slightly-too-enthusiastic hug. 

He keeps his head buried in Gonta’s shoulder in order to save face even the  _ slightest  _ bit, but it doesn’t stop him from hearing the cheering from his friends.

“Oh, Shuichi and Gonta, you’re just too cute!” Tsumugi sounds vaguely like she’s crying. 

“Shuichi! You did it! Maki, I can’t believe he  _ did it--” _

“--That’s my sidekick--!”

“--Tenko, it’s too loud and gross, let’s go to bed--”

“-- _ God,  _ Rantaro, isn’t this so sappy it makes you want to  _ baaaaarf?  _ I’m so sad, hold me--”

Shuichi pulls his face slightly out of the hug, far enough that he can make eye contact with Gonta and feel his boyfriend’s breath tickle his cheeks. He’s so deliriously happy he could  _ faint,  _ and from the look on Gonta’s face, he imagines the feeling is mutual.

“Heeeey, lovebirds!” Kokichi’s voice is a whine, but somehow it carries over the sound of everyone else. “Are you gonna kiss or what?” 

_ “Kokichi,”  _ Shuichi says drily, feeling his face heat up again. He’d sort of been planning on that, but not in  _ front  _ of everyone.

“D-Do gentlemen kiss on the first date?” 

“Totally! Now kiss! Kiss Kiss!” It doesn’t take long for Kokichi to start up a chant, and soon the whole room choruses the sentiment -- even  _ Maki,  _ who looks a bit red herself.

“You don’t have to,” Shuichi tells Gonta reassuringly, trying not to look  _ too  _ disappointed. Gonta seems to consider for a moment.

“A-And if Gonta. . .want to?”

Shuichi can’t find the words to respond over the sudden jack in his heart beats per minute. He just nods, swallowing nervously, and hopes Gonta gets the message. 

He yelps as an arm moves around his middle, and his boyfriend, face red and smile shy, gently lifts him into the air. There’s more cheering, and, spurred on by his friends and his sudden rush of adrenaline and his overwhelming  _ happiness  _ over his feelings being returned, Shuichi slots his fingers in Gonta’s hair and leans forward to kiss him.

It sort of ruins the kiss itself, but Shuichi doesn’t even attempt to reign in the wide smile on his face. 

**Author's Note:**

> +im really happy with how this turned out! it's so fun writing everyone, even if it is VERY dialogue-heavy
> 
> +next time!!! i promise it will include more gonta. this particular plot wouldn't work out so well if gonta was There for the whole mini class trial mess, but i definitely want to write more of him! maybe some shuichi/kiibo/gonta because its still very much my belief that the three of them have feelings for each other in-game
> 
> +i also have plans for, ah, something much more long term and big and MULTICHAPTERED so. look out for that! at some point
> 
> +thats all for now, thank you so much for reading! if you'd be so kind as to drop a comment, it'd make me super happy! i love getting feedback, especially on fandoms im relatively new to and on works featuring characters that are REALLY hard to write! [looks at shuichi, kokichi, and gonta]
> 
> +my tumblr is @/gokuharas if you'd like to hit me up there! thanks again!


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